We rented the house as a 50th birthday celebration for our elder daughter, and in all we were nine people in three generations, me and my husband in our 70s, two daughters and husbands, and three grandchildren of eight, ten and fourteen. The house was just perfect for us all. The situation is beautiful - not an open view, as the big trees have closed it in, but nevertheless a sense of space as you can see distant slopes through the trees. It is not very near to other houses and is very quiet. The many trees also mean that there is always shade, although the beautiful pool is almost always in the sun. There are plenty of sun-loungers, cane chairs and little tables, with two large parasols by the pool, so we found that sun-lovers and shade-lovers were all content. The garden is really lovely, showing great care in the choice and placing of plants - oleanders, hybiscus, lavender, many succulents - as well as the huge plane trees and cypresses. To one side of the house is a meadow dotted with old olive trees, and it's possible to walk for some time within the boundaries of the estate. The house itself is old, with red tiled floors and thick walls, but there is modern comfort with air conditioning in every room. The bedrooms are small but we soon adapted to this (even the 'independent' room near the pool has air-con and proved quite comfortable), and it was a pleasure to eat at the large table outside in the shade, or inside on the one morning when it rained. The village of Salernes is a five minute drive away, so you really need a car, but one of our party went every morning for croissants. The Sunday market was great and on other days it was peaceful. Perhaps the only down-side was the mosquitos, especially in the evenings, but this is hardly unique to this property. Anyway, it's best to wear long trousers and long sleeves in the evening to minimise the amount of repellant you need. Incidentally my husband and I travelled all the way from Hull by train. On weekends in the summer it's possible to take Eurostar all the way from St Pancras to Marseille without changing trains; then there is a local train to Les Arcs/Draguignan which is a 40-minute drive from Salernes, so we had to be picked up from there. All in all this was a most delightful holiday. Chantal Rocadot was cheerful and helpful and the one little problem we had (a broken bed-leg) was dealt with very promptly and without fuss. We would certainly like to go there again.
